LATEST HOMILY
TWENTTY-FIFTH SUNDAY in ORDINARY TIME
September 22, 2024

A. The Secret Recipe Is Just Noodles! 

My friends in Christ, bear with me for another Sunday for talking about one of my favorite movies.  If you wish, after mass you can come up to me and tell me “Father Devereaux I had enough about this animation nonsense and superheroes garbage…” It may hurt my feelings; but who care about my feelings?   And so, if you do hurt my feelings, it gives me more motivation to preach about it more!  So bite the bullet! It was around the year 2008, Dreamwork studios produced one of the best movie animations, better than Shrek, I dare say.  Some of us may disagree but everyone is entitled to their own opinions. The best movie of all-time from DreamWorks would-be Kung Fu Panda, and mainly the first one.  I believe that first movies are always the best. The main plot of the first Kung Fu Panda is this.  A huge panda by the name of Po is chosen to be the dragon warrior by the wise and legendary Master Uguay.  And of course, having a big fat Panda chosen to be the Dragon Warrior brings disappointment and envy to others who have trained so hard for the appointment. But no, the one who was called to be the Dragon Warrior was Po, the fat panda who knew absolutely no Kung Fu!  Eventually throughout the movie he learns Kund Fu, but he never understood what it meant to be The Dragon Warrior.  He learnt from his master all he needed to know but never could figure out what it meant to take up the role! The scroll that was given to the Dragon Warrior had nothing on it.  It was blank. And all Po saw was his reflection. Of course, Po felt defeated and went back to his father’s restaurant where his father made the best noodles in all of China. But one day, Po asked his father what made his noodles so special.  What made them the best in China. And his father told him this: “Nothing makes them special.  They are special because I make them to be special.  There are no secret ingredients or special preservatives.  They are special just because they are.” It was then that the panda realized that there was no special secret or technique to being the Dragon Warrior! He was the Dragon Warrior because he was called. 

B. No Allegory nor Esoteric Philosophy to be Great! 

The disciples argue with Jesus as to what he meant by the Son of Man being handed over to be crucified. Like so many who were full of themselves. They believe Jesus is giving some sort of secret wisdom or hidden mystery to be solved.  But they take something simple and exaggerate it beyond necessity.  They thought if they understood what Jesus “really” meant, they would be on par with him and considered his right-hand man! Hence why they probably were discussing amongst themselves who would be the greatest! But to think of oneself as the greatest by possessing all knowledge or being better at something than everyone else is nonsense and dangerous to one’s character. It goes to what St. James tells us in his letter. When we strive to become the greatest or better than everyone else, it is only to feed our passions. Even to sit and think about how we can do a better job than the other person is not a healthy spiritual practice. When we bewitch ourselves into thinking that we are the best because we have something the other does not have, we have just won the Nobel Peace Prize for the emptiest barrel on Planet Earth that – YES – makes the most noise. When Jesus said he will suffer and die, there is no secret wisdom, there is no equation.  It is what it is! 

And so, it is the same with being oneself! If we want to be great, there is no secret, there is no hidden wisdom or mystical spirituality. To be great is to be exactly how God has called us to be, which is good, even with all our flaws and brokenness!   Furthermore, He also called us to embrace the best of our personality even the traits we are not too proud of. We are called to work on ourselves every day, to be better that the day before.  But not to be someone who we are not nor strive to be better than someone else. If you laugh really loud, then embrace that! If you have really dark skin, embrace that! If you have a lot of freckles and frizzy hair, embrace that too!! If you can’t dance like Michael Jackson but you like to dance, shake those two left feet. If you can’t sing and you decide not to sing your favorite hymn at mass, SHAME ON YOU.  Let’s hear that cracking voice.  To us it may sound like two cats fighting but in God’s ears, it’s like two angels harmonizing! Be unapologetic about who you are and who God made you to be! To be anything else or to try to be someone we are not, is to rob ourselves of the sacredness God placed on us. To despise ourselves or to be discontent with how God made us is a sin against our existence! If we are struggling with who we are or where we came from and trying to make ourselves something or someone we are not, then we must look inside of ourselves and see why we cannot accept whatever it is that is inside of us. 

C. Accept the Unacceptable!  

The child Jesus placed on His lap is us. That child in the Lord’s arm is our shame, our hurt, our crosses or whatever dark past or history we wish not to face or remember! But Jesus says: “Whoever accepts this little one in my name is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven!”  In other words, whoever accepts their disability is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever accepts their flaws is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever accepts their struggling marriage is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever accepts their weakness in certain vices is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever accepts themselves as they are before the Lord who made them as such is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Because as we are my friends, we are seen as special, unique and wonderful in all of Heaven’s eyes! There’s no secret ingredient.  There is no special skill or priceless preservative. How we are made is special and will always be special… WHY?? Because God says so and that’s that!!!     AMEN!